Hanging It Up
by PunkxValentine
Summary: One-shot; Jack's POV; Somewhat crossover with CSI; “The people that we get back,” had been my answer to Grissom's question. And, in that moment, that was all that I had... There was no Samantha or Finn in my life..


A/N: It has been forever since I've posted on anything.. Wow. But, uhm.. This was just something that's been nagging me since I watched Grissom's final episode on CSI last Thursday, and rewatched the scene from "Where & Why" on Without A Trace where Grissom and Jack are talking in the car about quitting their jobs. I, quite literally, threw this together in fifteen minutes... Which means, its probably not in-character, there's probably some grammatical errors somewhere along the way, and what not, but I accept full blame for those because I just needed this outta my head! :) I couldn't resist it.  
Spoilers: If you haven't seen "Where & Why" from WaT or Grissom's final episode, there's definite spoilers. ^.^  
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters mentioned within this short story; they belong to CBS (well, not Grissom anymore). So don't even toy with the notion of hitting me with the law books and suing me because you will not win. ^.^  
Thank you, and enjoy. :)

Hanging It Up

By: MC New York

The traffic on the way in made life a little more miserable than it already began with, being a Monday morning after a full, uninterrupted weekend of lazying around with Samantha and Shorty. For the first time in what felt like a long time, it didn't feel better coming back to work after a weekend now that I had more to live for than just whatever face on a case file was plopped on my desk next.

Settling into the office, I threw a look over my shoulder in recognition of the empty bullpen before seating myself and getting organized for the day.. I had time to spare.

I went through a small, inconsequential routine consisting of: check mail, check e-mail, check missed calls. Missed calls were always last on the list because they always seemed to yield the worst information if there was any. The worst kind of information with an ice cold punch to the jaw for good measure that brings reality to your attention when you least expect it.

But there was none, thankfully.. It was a welcome sight to notice a clean white board and no massive folder weighing my desk down.

There'd been enough cases fluctuating throughout this building to last us a lifetime, the way I saw it.. I recalled a more recent case that had me thinking of a long since passed case that once plagued the thoughts lingering in the very back of my mind.. Jason Taylor. I had caught myself reflecting on it last night while I lay in bed last night beside Samantha, thinking back on the case and where it had ultimately led me, as well as the people I met along the way..

One person in particular.. CSI Gil Grissom.. What a character he was. We couldn't have been on more opposite sides of the track, and yet.. I knew we were one in the same.

I could still hear our conversation in the car ringing loud and clear in my ears as I relaxed in my office chair, having the sweet time to reminisce for a moment or two..

_---  
A long silence fell upon us in the almost too-perfect-to-be-true neighborhood, both jaded from the case, in addition to jet lag for Grissom, more than likely._

"_You ever think of hangin' it up?"_

_He took a moment to consider this; I could see the wheels turning inside that eccentric mind of his. He finally turned to me with nothing but honesty in his eyes. "Every day..."_

"_At least you got your pig.." I joked, unable to get the sight of that... "irradiated fetal pig" or whatever that was out of my head._

"_I do.. Yes." We shared smirks, containing different degrees of mirth in them. But there was a silence again, shorter this time, that I knew would bring a question right back in my general direction. "What do you got, Jack?"  
---_

At the time, it had taken me a little bit of time to consider how to respond, and it took me even longer to say it..

"_The people that we get back,"_ had been my answer to Grissom's question. And, in that moment, that _was_ all that I had... There was no Samantha or Finn in my life..

As I had divulged to him even earlier when I was still in Vegas, the results were... "undetermined".

Well.. They might be rocky from time to time as of right now, but I'd like to consider it a far cry from the "undetermined" status I had once given it..

Now.. I couldn't help but once if he, himself, still only had Ms. Piggy in a jar or if anything had become of him and CSI Sara Sidle... Grissom and his kind may be naturals for "looking for the evidence" no matter how small, but that didn't make my eyes any less dull than theirs.. or my brain slower than the rest... It was fairly obvious to see the exchange in glances across his office and to feel the emotions in the air like static.

At the most, I hoped she wasn't just.. walking the dog from time to time.

Beneath his eccentricity, I knew Gil Grissom was a well-intended guy and from the brief moment I met Sara Sidle, I could get the vibe that she was someone I could've grown fond of if given the time to do so. And I could only hope they'd gotten their act together properly, and not waited an eternity and a half like I had with Samantha.

I found myself genuinely smiling and oblivious to the outside world as my thoughts suddenly shifted gears and jumped from the Vegas duo to Samantha, as most of my thoughts naturally did, when just that very person came strutting through my doors. Looking a lot better than I probably did doing so about ten or fifteen minutes ago.

"Hey.." I said softly, sitting forward now, full attentive to whatever it was she had to say.

I was rewarded with a smile before she presented me with a standard envelope, explaining, "This just came in for you down in the foyer; they asked me to deliver it to you..."

"Ah, and here I was thinking we were back in high school giving each other love letters like teenagers.." I smirked as I took it from her outstretched hand, reaching for my glasses in the meanwhile. "Thank you very much.."

On that note, she left me to read my one and only mail for the morning.

No return address, no clear indication of who it was sent from...

Opening it, I pulled out a wrinkled, ordinary piece of white lined paper, the envelope still heavy with something else.. But for the moment, I simply concentrated on the neat cursive that seemed to clash with the nonchalance of the paper.

_Jack,_

_I hung it up.._

_And I've never known such happiness._

_-Grissom._

_P.S. Hope your "undetermined" status has improved since last we spoke._

Only having the mind to empty the rest of the contents of the envelope, a picture fell out before me... Indeed, a much happier and healthier Gil Grissom was shown with his arm embracing a much more light-hearted and happier Sara Sidle in the foreground of some tropical jungle.

_I'm sure he's going crazy with all those bugs out there..._ I thought to myself, smiling for my odd... friend.

Placing the photo aside, I rose from my seat and proceeded out to the lonely bullpen, only inhabited by Samantha who was still standing and retrieving items from her bag.

Coming up behind her, I made a bold move as I slipped my arms about her delicate waist and rested my head upon her shoulder, turning my head so my lips rested lightly against the satin skin of her neck. I heard her chuckle a bit as she continued about her business.

"What's this for?" She asked, one hand coming down to rest over my two clasped hands on her lower belly.

"Because I love you.." I mumbled into her neck. "You know I love you, right?"

Samantha hummed a positive response as I continued to hold her there, reveling in the simplest of pleasures in life and hoping that somewhere out there, wherever it was that he was... Grissom was doing the same.

"Good.. As long as you know..."

The End

A/N2: So this is my first WaT fic and I'm hoping I didn't disgraced Jack's character too horribly. The ending was not fantastic, and it wasn't intended to be. My apologies. Regardless, please give some feedback; it would be greatly appreciated and rewarded with my undying love. :)


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